Rubin’s language is luscious but never overdone. He notices, for instance, that the key to a politician’s speech, “was to have said things so many times that when you were delivering the line…you weren’t ever thinking about the words, but about some essential, misdirected thing.” Through observation alone, Giovanni quickly catches on to certain patterns. He has insights into the behavioral trends of whole professions-from actors, to prostitutes, to politicians, to therapists. In particular, Giovanni notices the ways in which every individual masks who he or she is and pretends, even subconsciously, to be someone or something else. Within Giovanni himself and through his eclectic observations, Rubin manages to explore many facets of human nature without overextending himself. Though Giovanni is an unconventional individual, and his ability goes far beyond the bounds of realistic possibility, his central predicaments-feeling unsure of his true self, mirroring other people, and constantly feeling like a fraud-are, in fact, universal angsts heightened to the level of the magical. Later, another character discovers he has an allergy to money-or, more precisely, “to those objects that through any concatenation of events led me to money.” Contact with such objects imbued with the idea of money causes this man to break out in a terrible full-body rash.Īs with most magical realism, what would superficially belong in the realm of fantasy is in fact deeply representative of the realities of life in human society. Bernard, who owns the establishment where Giovanni gets his start as a performer, provides fodder for imitation so delicious that Giovanni becomes addicted to it like a drug. This bold premise, and a smattering of plot points along the way, begin to cross a line into magical realism. He is merely a vessel, a blank canvas, a book unwritten. But second, and more importantly, no one, not the reader nor even Giovanni himself, knows who the real Giovanni is. Often Giovanni’s impressions burst forth uncontrollably, causing trouble in many of his relationships. First, Giovanni must frequently repress the urge to mimic strangers and friends wherever he goes. Giovanni Bernini is not only blessed with a talent that allows him to imitate any person, animal, or inanimate object-he is also compelled to do so at all times. The concept that “The Poser” lays out is thoroughly original.
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